Police arrest man for attempted rape of girl, 15, after setting up sting in Lynnwood
LYNNWOOD, Wash. -- Lynnwood police set up a sting to arrest a man who had set up a meeting at a park to have sex with a 15-year-old girl.
According to police, the man claimed to be 34 when he started contacting the teen in a chat room. He asked to move the conversation to Snapchat and sent sexually explicit photos to the girl, they said.
The girl's mother discovered her daughter had been involved in sexually explicit conversations with the man and reported it to police.
Investigators said the man repeatedly tried to get the teenager to meet him for sex. Detectives obtained a search warrant and assumed the girl's identity on the Snapchat account. They set up a sting at a local park on June 2 and arrested the man who turned out to be a 39-year-old man from the Edmonds area.
Detectives have written search warrants for the suspect's phones, computers and residence searching for any other possible victims or crimes. He was booked into the Snohomish County Jail.
Here's a message from Lynnwood Deputy Chief Jim Nelson:
"As a public safety message, parents should be aware there are ever changing social media sites predicated on anonymity. Parents should understand and research what types of social media platforms children are using and talk to them about the dangers of exchanging information with strangers in today’s social media world. Fortunately in this case this mother was alert and uncovered these exchanges prior to this 39 year old suspect being able to convince the teenager to meet with him."
Police also provided these resources here and here.